Surprise, surprise…this is a beauty post! I was inspired by Chrysa of Stories and Sequins who did an awesome post on her beauty products earlier on.

If there’s one thing that I can never get enough of, it’s eye make-up. I have a multitude of eyeshadows in shades of brown and black. Shimmery, matte, whatever…you name it, I have it.

I’m currently besotted with the Naked palette from Urban Decay and have been using it most of the time. When I’m lazy, I’ll just use one shade over my lid. My favourite shades in this palette include Hustle, Creep and Dark Horse.

I have rather severe dark eye circles, so concealer is one make-up item that I cannot do without. Recently, I’ve been using Benefit’s Stay, Don’t Stray as a concealer. It’s marketed as a primer, which means you’re supposed to use it before layering on your concealer and eye make-up, but it comes in a nude shade that conceals my dark circles perfectly well when I have sufficient sleep, so it doubles up as a concealer for me! A little goes a long way. I also like that it doesn’t crease like most concealers.

Benefit’s Dandelion is a life-saver on days when I need that extra radiance boost. My cheeks are naturally rosy so blusher may not be necessary on most days but I like that Dandelion adds an instant glow to my face on days when I need it. It has such a smooth consistency and is surprisingly easy to blend.

False lashes have also worked their way into my daily routine now because it is so easy to remove as compared to mascara. This is also my last step after eyeshadow and eyeliner. My favourite lashes are Dollywink lashes No.1 and No. 2, both of which can be purchased from Watsons stores. I especially like the Watsons store at Nex as it is perpetually well-stocked with Dollywink lashes.

Dollywink lashes come with thin transparent lash bands, which make them very flexible and bendable. The best part is, the lash band is hardly noticeable if you attach the false lashes close to your lash line.

I don’t really use lip products although my drawer is filled with them. I only use them when I have functions/events to attend and among them, Canmake’s Nudy Glow lip gloss is my favourite. It is very opaque and comes in a nude pink shade, which is perfect for enhancing smoky eye make-up. One gripe that I have about this product is that it can be very drying, so it is important to slather on lip balm prior to application.

Here’s the final look. I also added a dash of shimmery white eyeshadow (Majolica Majorca’s WT 963) near my tear ducts to open up my eyes.

I wish I could try out those coloured circle lenses but unfortunately, my astigmatism is way too high. So there, I’ll just have to live with my natural pupils!

My hair is also growing out. I’m wondering if I should continue growing it out (I miss my long hair sometimes) or keep it short. What do you think? I would be very grateful if you could share your views with me!

I’m usually not very adventurous when it comes to make-up. I love neutral palettes with a lot of eyeliner. Ooo..and nude lips too! I wish I could also put on some coloured contacts to complete the look, but my astigmatism is way too high.

Here’s my take on nude make-up. Pics are all unedited.

1) Derma Rx Tinted Sunscreen – Read more about it in my skincare post here

1) Chanel Ombre Paupieres Eyeshadow Shade 77 (shimmery white liquid eyeshadow base over entire lid)

2) Kate “Reflect Mirror Eyes” in BR 2 (Two shades of brown to contour the socket area and a shimmery white shade to highlight under the brow bone)

3) MAC Powerpoint Eyeliner in Engraved (upper and lower lashlines)

4) Canmake Gokubuto Mascara (only on lower lashes)

5) Falsies from Aiku Maikawa Model’s Selections – model # 908 (on upper lid)

Cheeks:

1) MAC Pinch O Peach Sheertone Blush

2) MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Dark (for contouring below cheekbones)

3) MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Soft and Gentle (as a highlighter on top of blusher)

Lips:

1) Ettusais Lip Essence

2) Canmake lip concealer – I have pretty red lips, and this concealer miraculously erases the colour on my lips completely!

3) MAC Satin Lipstick in Faux

I love eye make-up but I don’t usually wear much make-up on the rest my face. For work, I usually use a 2-way cake or loose powder and some blusher. On weekends, I prefer to step out of the house wearing only tinted sunblock to give my skin a breather. 😉

I’ve been hooked on falsies for a while because it instantly opens up the eyes without the hassle of having to curl your lashes, painstakingly coat them with mascara and remove the mascara at the end of the day when all you want to do is bathe and jump into bed! I typically only use them on weekends as they can, at times, be a little too dramatic for work.

Recently, I discovered Dolly Wink’s individual lower lashes at Watson’s. Dolly Wink’s falsies are a sell-out in Japan and the rest of Asia. Hence, I decided I had to get my hands on the lower lashes after reading numerous Japanese make-up tutorials in CanCam, Vivi and the likes.

Here are the results of my virgin attempt at attaching the bottom lashes (I was wearing a pair of very natural -looking falsies on the upper lids):

My verdict? I think bottom lashes really help to further enhance and open up the eyes, creating a doe-eyed effect.

However, while it’s relatively easy to put them on with a pair of tweezers, it could be way too time consuming and drama mama if you’re rushing for work in the morning! I’ll be saving mine for weekends and special occassions. 😉

Actually, there’s nothing secretive about my routine, but since I’ve been receiving quite a number of inquiries about how my make-up is done, I’ll do a short post on the make-up products that I use.

Concealer

Foundation
To set the concealer, I use DiorSkin Extreme Fit Supermoist Powder Foundation. Sometimes, I use it all over my face as well if I need a little more coverage. More often than not, I just stick to tinted sunscreen. Eyeshadow
Then I’ll swipe Majolica Majorca WT963 eyeshadow all over my lids. It’s a very glittery shade that is subtle at the same time. I also line my lower lashline and the inner corner of my eyes with this eyeshadow using an angled brush to open up my eyes. If I am in a rush for time, this is the only eyeshadow that I use.

On other days, I’ll also use a palette of brown eyeshadows (either matte or glittery) to create more depth. Blending is key when you’re using a few shades so it’s always best to get good eyeshadow brushes. I personally think that MAC and iNuovi have pretty decent make-up brush sets.

After using so many different brands of eyeshadow, I’ve figured that drugstore brands are equally good (i.e. very smooth, pigmented yet buildable colour). My favourite so far is Silkygirl’s blockbuster quad in Bare Classics. The best part is its price…it only costs S$11.90!

There’s also another brown Japanese eyeshadow quad that I found at Sasa recently. It has very blendable browns and comes with the most glittery white eyeliner gel I’ve ever seen – totally great for parties. I’ll take a picture of it and post it here soon.

I usually use the lighter shade of brown over the entire socket and the darker shade at the ends. Sometimes, I’ll also line my upper lashline with the darker eyeshadow. I find that it helps my eyeliner to stay on longer.

Eyeliner
After blending my eyeshadow, I’ll move on to eyeliner. My holy grail is MAC’s Powerpoint in Engraved (it’s black, not blue as shown in pic) because it glides on easily and the colour is very intense.

I draw a thicker line on my upper lashline and wing out the eyeliner at the end. The wing effect varies depending on the thickness and angle that you draw, but practice makes perfect. Depending on the shape of your eyes, this may or may not suit you as well.

After drawing the upper lashline, I slowly glide the eyeliner on the waterline (i.e. inner corner of the entire lower lashline). I like my eyes fully lined, while others may only prefer to line say 1/4 of the waterline. Once again, this depends on the shape of your eyes. For some people, fully-lined eyes may make their eyes appear smaller.

Mascara
I usually finish off my eye make-up by curling my lashes with my Shu Uemura eyelash curler and applying mascara. On days when I have no time, I skip this step altogether.

I’ve been using Majorlica Majorca’s mascara base as well as their mascara. I like intense colours, and that’s the very reason why I love this mascara.

So there you have it… my full daily make-up routine revealed! I certainly hope this comes in useful!

P.S:
You may have realized that I left out blusher and eyebrow pencil in this post. I’m not particularly fussy about these two items and I do without them most of the time.

But if you must ask, I like MAC’s pinch o peach blusher as well as Majorlica Majorca’s PK333 blusher. 😉